Governor imposes cuts; agencies must trim
By Tom Eldred, Senior writer
DOVER - Gov. Ruth Ann Minner asked state agencies in October to come up with suggested across-the-board 2 percent cuts in this year's record $2.3 billion budget.
Revenues were declining. She said the state needed a reserve in case the bad economic news continued.
Gov. Minner tapped that reserve Wednesday when she ordered most state agencies to trim a total of $23.8 million from their spending plans.
She said the cuts were a direct result of Monday's forecast from financial advisers that current fiscal year revenues will decrease by yet another $17.1 million.
"The vast majority of cuts are to administrative costs of agencies and programs, so services were affected very little,'' Gov. Minner said.
"Some of the cuts also came from the funds that had gone unspent or that were being spent more slowly than had been planned."
She noted that since the budget was approved in June, the total drop in the year's revenue estimates from the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council is $30.9 million.
"This latest reduction was not unexpected, and we were prepared,'' Gov. Minner said.
"After DEFAC met in October, I asked agencies to prepare a list of possible cuts in case our revenues continued to decline. Today, I am asking the agencies to make most of the cuts they previously identified.''
The governor's order applies to virtually all state agencies except the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, which has been hit with accelerating costs for child mental-health services, foster care and health care.
A list of agency-by-agency cuts released by the administration shows most departments reached the 2 percent goal. Several exceeded the mark. A few dipped under.
Only the judiciary, with a targeted reduction of $1,234,000, was substantially off the goal, coming in with a $823,000 cut.
Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice E. Norman Veasey said the judicial branch is trying to find additional avenues for cutting costs in an operational structure that is very complex.
"We have been working very hard with the state budget office regarding the special problems in the judicial branch of government,'' Chief Justice Veasey said.
"We don't have a lot of room in our fiscal 2002 budget for cuts while still keeping the courts running to provide services.
"We're continuing to do what we can do without undermining the public's trust and confidence in the operations of the judicial branch serving the citizens of Delaware.''
Gregory Patterson, a spokesman for Gov. Minner, said the administration is still working with the judicial branch regarding additional cuts.
"We're continuing to work with them. For some, it's harder than others," he said. "We believe they put in a good-faith effort to make the cuts they did."
Gov. Minner said she did not accept all the cuts offered by the agencies. She said she decided not to accept a $993,000 reduction in drug treatment at the Department of Correction.
She also declined $200,000 from Delaware Health and Social Services for adolescent-pregnancy prevention and did not accept a $100,000 cut from the Department of Labor for worker skills training.
Beth Welch, a spokeswoman for DOC, said the agency is gratified the department's heralded Crest and KEY substance-abuse programs can continue at present strength.
"We appreciate the difficult choices the governor has to make,'' Mrs. Welch said.
"We are pleased with, and supportive of, her decision regarding our drug-treatment program. We will continue to assist the governor any way we can to help her maintain the fiscal integrity of the state.''
"I thank all the agencies for their cooperation in this process," Gov. Minner said. "Each agency made a good-faith effort at finding cuts that would help us keep the budget in balance with as little impact as possible on the people we serve.''
Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or teldred@newszap.com.
